I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the change from clear good and evil in 80s/90s kids media to modern “we’re all just buddies at the end” wasn’t some kind of psyop to normalize the next generations to tolerate and handwave powerful people doing horrible shit.
Like, there was zero blurry lines back then.
If an oligarch was destroying the environment and harming people in the pursuit of power, John Leguizamo would show up and go Luigi all over some asses.
A Bug’s LIfe even had Kevin Spacey! With possibly the best line in any animated movie ever: “first rule of leadership, princess: everything is your fault.”
You’re right, but some of that is actually “in-universe” for Mario games. For example, Mario 3 is a stage play. That’s why the set pieces in the levels look the way they do, and why you can get behind the set using the white blocks.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the change from clear good and evil in 80s/90s kids media to modern “we’re all just buddies at the end” wasn’t some kind of psyop to normalize the next generations to tolerate and handwave powerful people doing horrible shit.
I don’t think it was quite an intentional one, as much as it is that with media having a wider spread, the companies behind them want them to be less controversial, and more palatable to a wider audience. It’s a lot easier to do that if everyone was getting along at the end, since it’s a safe option that doesn’t risk any controversy over the audience thinking the treatment was too extreme, or having to risk offending the ratings board, or any of that.
That’s a funny thought, but in the new one Bowser was unquestionably bad. His motivations were more relatable for most people, but there wasn’t any time spent attempting to justifying what he did.
Both ways may work short term, but I bet they’ll be more of the newest franchise.
When Luigo put a Koopa down, he stayed down.
In the analogy of billionaires who have caused such ridiculous amounts of human pain, suffering, and even death…
Some would argue that rehabilitation isn’t an ethical conscious risk considering the damage done to amount of people balanced against honestly less than what? 4-5 school buses full of oligarchs?
Sure, maybe Peter Thiel or Elon Musk’s hearts will grow a dozen sizes.
But do the risk/reward.
Basic utilitariansism
For the 7 billion so other people on the planet, and all the future generations. It’s worth playing it safe, even if that means we never got a sequel.
Fascist evil genocidera put down, and everyone goes back to Brooklyn to fix toilets, because when fascists show up, everyone fights regardless of what you were doing yesterday.
You just don’t see shit like that in kids movies these days.
But for literal millenia, that’s what our stories have been.
I just don’t think the change is organic, but I’m a cynic
There was that old raccoons show with the aardvark villian trying to level the forest where the bad guy isn’t completely hated so maybe an early example
Considering all the crazy shit we’ve found out…
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the change from clear good and evil in 80s/90s kids media to modern “we’re all just buddies at the end” wasn’t some kind of psyop to normalize the next generations to tolerate and handwave powerful people doing horrible shit.
Like, there was zero blurry lines back then.
If an oligarch was destroying the environment and harming people in the pursuit of power, John Leguizamo would show up and go Luigi all over some asses.
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Captain planet? No way - it’s all about Coalie now!
This one fascinates me - did they cover up the woman and the girls face on purpose?
Looks exactly like those old Russian propaganda posters
The art was way better on that shit.
No, it doesn’t.
Those were lit, the one above sucks noodles.
that is an insult to socialist realism
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Hahahha WTF
Is…is this a real kids show?
It’s a real “educational mascot” the gov introduced but I’m not aware of it being used in children’s programming, yet.
Put a young audience in front of a Bugs Life.
You’re 10000% right in my book. All planned.
A Bug’s LIfe even had Kevin Spacey! With possibly the best line in any animated movie ever: “first rule of leadership, princess: everything is your fault.”
You’re right, but some of that is actually “in-universe” for Mario games. For example, Mario 3 is a stage play. That’s why the set pieces in the levels look the way they do, and why you can get behind the set using the white blocks.
I don’t think it was quite an intentional one, as much as it is that with media having a wider spread, the companies behind them want them to be less controversial, and more palatable to a wider audience. It’s a lot easier to do that if everyone was getting along at the end, since it’s a safe option that doesn’t risk any controversy over the audience thinking the treatment was too extreme, or having to risk offending the ratings board, or any of that.
That’s a funny thought, but in the new one Bowser was unquestionably bad. His motivations were more relatable for most people, but there wasn’t any time spent attempting to justifying what he did.
He was a fairy tale villain, not a modern villain.
A fairy tale villain is evil by virtue, bowser is always bad and will always be bad.
Modern villains are more about becoming evil under the right circumstance, and serve as a warning of why you shouldn’t let that circumstance happen.
The ending was all about that there is always evil in the world, it just needs to be contained by the hero.
In a modern story, it’s more about society overcoming systematic struggles.
Did someone get rocket boots and a freakin lazer cannon?
Or was he “defeated” and escaped to live another day with zero consequences?
Depends on whether you believe in rehabilitation or not because nu Bowser is imprisoned at the end of the movie.
All I’m saying is:
Both ways may work short term, but I bet they’ll be more of the newest franchise.
When Luigo put a Koopa down, he stayed down.
In the analogy of billionaires who have caused such ridiculous amounts of human pain, suffering, and even death…
Some would argue that rehabilitation isn’t an ethical conscious risk considering the damage done to amount of people balanced against honestly less than what? 4-5 school buses full of oligarchs?
Sure, maybe Peter Thiel or Elon Musk’s hearts will grow a dozen sizes.
But do the risk/reward.
Basic utilitariansism
For the 7 billion so other people on the planet, and all the future generations. It’s worth playing it safe, even if that means we never got a sequel.
Fascist evil genocidera put down, and everyone goes back to Brooklyn to fix toilets, because when fascists show up, everyone fights regardless of what you were doing yesterday.
You just don’t see shit like that in kids movies these days.
But for literal millenia, that’s what our stories have been.
I just don’t think the change is organic, but I’m a cynic
There was that old raccoons show with the aardvark villian trying to level the forest where the bad guy isn’t completely hated so maybe an early example
Well, the kids who grew up on 80s good/evil cartoons turned out more right wing fascist loving than the boomers, so that didn’t seem to help them.